Air pollution contributes significantly to diabetes – Study

A new research has linked outdoor air pollution to an increased risk of diabetes. According to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, there is the possibility that reducing pollution may lead to a drop in diabetes cases in heavily polluted countries.

According to sciencedaily.com, the main causes of diabetes include eating an unhealthy diet, having a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. However, the new research indicates the extent to which outdoor air pollution plays a role.

The study’s senior author, Ziyad Al-Aly, said, “Our research showed a significant link between air pollution and diabetes globally. We found an increased risk, even at low levels of air pollution currently considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organisation. This is important because many industry-lobbying groups argue that current levels are too stringent and should be relaxed. Evidence showed that current levels are still not sufficiently safe and needed to be tightened.”

Previous studies had found that such particles can enter the lungs and invade the bloodstream, contributing to major health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and kidney disease. In diabetes, pollution is thought to reduce insulin production and trigger inflammation, preventing the body from converting blood glucose into energy that the body needs to maintain health.

At the end of their study, the researchers estimated that, “pollution contributed to 3.2 million new diabetes cases globally in 2016, which represents about 14 per cent of all new diabetes cases globally that year. They also estimated that 8.2 million years of healthy life were lost in 2016 due to pollution-linked diabetes, representing about 14 per cent of all years of healthy life lost due to diabetes from any cause,” Al-Aly said.

In the United States, the study attributed 150,000 new cases of diabetes per year to air pollution and 350,000 years of healthy life lost annually.

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